me together, I didn’t see her coming willingly. It would take an act of God for her just to speak to me.
“Don’t give up hope, brother,” Jackson said as he rose. “Things have a way of working themselves out. Go see the legal buffs and, most importantly, have a conversation with the mother of your child. God knows our mother is going to have a field day when we get back.”
I chuckled. Knowing my brothers would both be put through the wringer for their silence made me feel a little better. It was all in good brotherly love. At moments like that, I couldn’t bear the idea of not having a giant family to support me.
10
Chapter Nine (Walker)
Making my way into town a few hours later, I felt a mixture of nausea and excitement. It came as no surprise the legal firm that handled any Lakeview or Wheeler issues was happy to get me in. We accounted for most of their business and all of their bonuses. Our family worked to not only keep up with rules and regulations within the industry but also set a new standard of practice.
“How have you been, Walker?” Scott Webner asked.
“Well, I need to know about some things. Now I don’t want to take any action or let my folks know.”
“Everything you say here is kept between us unless it’s a direct detriment to the Ranch, you know that. So what brings you in today?”
“Seems I’ve got myself a son. A little fella that just turned two.”
“Now hot damn! There’s a cause for a celebration. I’m gonna gamble here and say things aren’t happy in parenting paradise, though? Not sure you’d come to visit else wise.”
“To be honest, I’m not sure where we stand just yet, but I plan to find out. She did keep him a secret from me.”
“Is she reaching out now? My first step would be getting a DNA test.”
“We might need to take that route at some point, but for now, I’m just wondering what kind of claim I’m looking at over the boy if things head south.”
“Do you know if you’re listed as his father on the birth certificate?”
I cringed. “She made it pretty clear I wasn’t.”
“But now she’s reaching out for money?”
“Not at all. She hasn’t asked for anything. Honestly, she didn’t even tell me about him. I had to do some snooping and digging. In the end, she told me I was the father, but that was like pulling teeth.”
It was apparent the new information caught Scott off guard. No doubt, his experience with custody had taken him the other route with the woman searching for the father and not the other way around. I couldn’t help but grin a little. Leave it to Stacy to throw even the most seasoned attorneys for a loop. There was so much about her that I was excited to learn if she would just give me a chance.
“Alright, then. Right off the top, without any proof that he’s your son, there isn’t much that we can do. Now, we can petition the courts for a DNA test provided we have ample cause to believe he is your son. You said she came out and told you?”
“Yes, but that’s not something she is going to do again,” I said. “She made it pretty clear she wanted nothing to do with me, but I’m going to keep trying.”
He sighed. “Unless you want to start some legal action, there isn’t much that you can do. She’s made no claim so far that you are the boy's father as far as the court is concerned. It would be your word against hers just to get the DNA test.”
“Is there anything we can do besides jumping right to the courts?”
“Get her to add you to the birth certificate. Even something that small acknowledges the child’s assumed paternity. Then we wouldn’t need to jump through many hoops at all. Texas is a fifty-fifty state. Unless one of you are blatantly unfit to be a parent, any judge around here is gonna split things down the middle.”
“You mean they’d take Harrison away from Stacy for half the time? That doesn’t seem right.”
“Son,” Scott started. “I think before I do anything on my end, you need to think long and hard about what you are after here. A custody battle isn’t something you want to go into with a soft heart. It’s been my experience that one party or the other ends up hurt.”